I'm looking to get a boat loan for a 1981 Ski Nautique (anniversary edition, very similar to a 2001 model, but the year before).

I need to get pricing on the boat (blue book value in a sense), but when I use NADA I get a price much lower than expected and I fear I won't be able to get the loan I need to purchase the boat. I need at least a 6-7k loan to get the boat (price is a bit over 7), but NADA says somethign like 2k...

Anyone have any tips on how I can approach my lender about this? She wants me to look up the blue book value, and I won't lie about it, but I want to know if anyone has gotten a loan for an older boat like this and had the same issues? I've got a grand to 1.5k I could use cash, so that'd be 20% of the purchase price, but if the NADA value is so low, I don't know if I can get the 6k in loan.

Man I know the feeling. When I was looking to purchase an older wakeboat trying to get financed on something in my price range was nearly impossible. I wound up waiting a while and just paying with cash. The only suggestions I would have is maybe a friend or relative or a secured short term loan from a bank or credit union. I say credit union because they are sometimes more likely to bend the rules a bit more than a larger financial institution. Still I would not be surprised if they did not want some collateral to hold though. I would steer shy from the friend or family thing as that can be way more trouble than it is worth. Good luck to you though. Oh, and I am sure there are other ways to secure the funds. I am speaking only of my personal experiences with buying older toys like boats and jeeps.

If you want to borrow against some collateral, that collateral must be worth more than you're borrowing. Even credit unions don't tend to budge on that point. Most boat brokers/dealers I've talked to are willing to put the purchase on a credit card for < $10,000 purchases if that helps. I don't know what to tell you for private party purchases. You would either need to do a signature loan and deal with the high interest or find some other collateral if you insist on borrowing the amount. Personally, I'd look for a better deal. $7K for a pre-2001 is kind of high.

i had the same problem when i found a 1996 prostar 190 for slalom skiing. i had to come up with a large down payment to cover the difference and my rate was terrible. so i bought a newer boat instead and since my rate dropped the payment was about the same for a 5 y.o newer boat.

I paid 7.5k for a super straight 85. I agree with Leo keep looking. Def look outside your local area there is a bunch of really nice ones in Texas, they seem a bit cheaper than else where and are generally pretty straight due to the climate. Shipping is not overly expensive.

I would hold out for a 2001 hull Nautique if you can, especially for those dollars. I have boarded behind the 2001 Nautiques and a few pre2001 hulls (77 and a 79 and the 2001 wake is bigger unweighted and I believe the beam is a little wider and thus the wake is a little wider and more rideable.